Headed toward Christ: This essay, quite readable for students, addresses narrative views about progress, randomness, history, and nature. It also serves as an example of drawing together convergent themes to examine a complementary approach to science and religion with Christ as the end or telos of nature and history. Much to agree and disagree with along […]

‘The Good Death,’ hard to find, and religion’s role may be to blame: So writes Ann Neumann in The Good Death: An Exploration of Dying in America (Beacon Press, 2016). “The Good Death” is a call for people to examine their own wishes around end-of-life issues and decide what role religion — either theirs or that of […]

What’s the Value of Utility? A brief essay that can help students quickly reconsider assumptions about value, what is important, why, how we assess value, versions of moral calculus, different ethical theories, and personal and public policy. The greatest happiness for the greatest number may sound like a noble idea, but exactly how are we supposed to […]

Why We Really Put Our Kids in Sports: This first person essay by a sports parent reviews the book Overplayed: A Parent’s Guide to Sanity in the World of Youth Sports by King and Starbuck (Herald Press, 2016): “It’s not too late to redeem youth sports culture, though, and while difficult, parents can begin to make different […]

Why Justice Divides Us: The Bible’s “justice”—God’s justice—means something quite different from what we usually think. In ordinary conversation justice stands opposed to mercy. It is not a word filled with grace, but with law. If you do good, justice will reward you. If you do evil, justice will bring you the punishment you deserve. Many […]